City speeds work on Jomtien water-treatment plant

Pattaya officials have stepped up pressure on contractors to finish the expansion of the city water-treatment plant on Soi Wat Boonkanjanaram.

Begun in October, the 500 million baht project has already been delayed once, with completion now set for July. But officials expressed worries Nov. 27 that even the 232 days left on the contract may not be enough.

Pattaya Sanitation Department Director Wirat Jeerasriphaithun said installation of new pipes in Jomtien Beach appear to be on schedule. The remaining work calls only for pipes that lie under traffic lanes.

The water-treatment plant on Soi Wat Boonkanjanaram is proceeding slowly, and Sanitation Department Director Wirat Jeerasriphaithun (inset) said if the contractor runs over schedule again, it will be fined 1.3 million baht per day.

The real worry is the construction of the larger collection basin, which is being doubled from its current 20,000 cu. meters. He called progress on the digging “slow,” saying that contractor West Technical Engineering Consulting Co. blamed delays on the rainy season.

However, Wirat said, the growth in Jomtien’s population makes the additional capacity of the treatment plant essential and the city plans to rush the contractor to complete the work on time or early. He said if the contractor runs over schedule again, it will be fined 1.3 million baht per day.

This article was published in the Pattaya Mail newspaper on Friday December 7, 2012 (Vol. XX No. 49).